Tyler Palko, Quarterback
Obviously, we would have liked to have had a little bit of a better outcome. Anytime you turn the ball over in this league, you don't give yourself the chance to win the football game. And three interceptions are inexcusable. I don't care if they were tipped or what not; the ball left my hand and I'm accountable for the passes. You can't turn the ball over in this league and have a chance to win football games, especially against a good offense like that. [You] can't give them more opportunities than they already get. But there were some positives out there as an offense; [we] just couldn't sustain any drives. And we moved the ball effectively, we just needed to stay on the field and finish them off instead of turning the ball over on a punt and falling apart. We'll get back to work. We have a big week - a short week - Sunday night against Pittsburgh, so we don't have any choice, but to get back on the horse and roll.
Q: Were you more comfortable than you thought you'd be out there? Were you as comfortable as you could be, given the circumstances of the big stage?
TP: Well I mean, I was as comfortable as I had to be. You know it was my first start, and you know obviously it gets easier with every start, but I felt comfortable out there. The offensive line did a great job and there were a couple sacks, but I needed to get rid of the ball. All in all, I felt pretty comfortable. Obviously there are some things I would like to have back, but it's a learning process and [you] try to minimize errors, but today, those three throws - interceptions - you would like to have them back.
Q: Is that what you're going to remember or keep reinforcing the positive like you said before?
TP: No. I mean, you can't run away from them; they're interceptions. They were turnovers and you can't run away from those things. You have to learn from them, but move forward as well. At the end of the day, you go back, watch the film, evaluate, and move forward. You can't do anything about the past and obviously it was disappointing, but you can't do anything about it. We have to move forward. We've got a big game against Pittsburgh and they're a good defense.
Q: You guys were able to move the ball in the first quarter and a lot of the second, but then it just seemed to stop. Was there a particular adjustment after that?
TP: No. I don't think. I think we just lost it. I think it comes back to what was hurting our offense before. When we stop ourselves...And I don't think it - I know it's not scheme. It's execution of it and we need to find a way to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. This game is hard enough as it is to overcome - hard enough as it is without making mistakes. When you make mistakes, it's going to show up in inopportune times.
Todd Haley, Head Coach
TH: Ok, a tough result for us, for our team. A game that we prepared very hard for it and to come out and compete against New England and have a chance to win. You know, we did too many things that get you beat in this league, too many times. Penalties in the red zone, the inability to get the ball into the end zone for scores early when we had opportunities. The surprise onside kick, the illegal touch was just a killer play for us. You know, we just allowed too many big plays on defense, including a punt return on special teams. So I take my hat off to Coach [Bill] Belichick and his team. They made, obviously, a bunch more plays than we did. Our guys fought it out and made too many mistakes, so any questions?
Q: Can you evaluate [Tyler] Palko's play?
TH: I thought, obviously, the interceptions…a couple were off tipped balls. We have just had too many. We just cannot tip the ball to the other team. It generally hurts you. You know, the interception late, I wasn't crazy about that decision. But I thought overall Tyler did a terrific, terrific job with handling the offense, the tempo. We obviously, we were trying to altar the tempo and create some energy for our side and at times we were able to do a good job, but other times we weren't. But I thought, overall, Tyler did a lot of really good things. You know, interceptions are things that can happen, and sacks at inopportune times can happen. But I think it is something to build on and he will get better.
Q: Were you calling the offensive plays tonight?
TH: No different than what we normally do.
Q: So Bill [Muir] was calling them then?
TH: We just made an alteration with having Bill [Muir] down. We just thought, I just thought that we were at a point here, at this point in the season, that in order to try to get a little change, he talks to the offense all week and I just felt that being up in the box right now wasn't the best place for him. So, we brought him down, but we were still status quo with how we operated.
Q: Regarding the move to put Matt Cassel on IR, was there any chance that he could have come back this year if you had kept him on the roster? Was it clear that he was done for the year?
TH: You know, that's not to say that he would be throwing the ball and things like that had we kept him. We just put a lot of thought and time into it as an organization, with our doctors, obviously, and just made the decision that we thought was in the best interest of us and him. You know, it's the right hand of a right-handed quarterback, so we just tried to do what we think was best. And it's going to take some time anyways.
Q: Regarding [Tyler] Palko, what did you think of his poise early in the game given the circumstances against a really good team? Did he exceed expectations?
TH: I don't want to downplay it because I do think that was a big stage to come in and play and have your first real action as quarterback. On the road, Monday night. So it was going to be a test. But, like I said, I have confidence in Tyler, I really do. You know, and that confidence is bred through watching him prepare and work and do his job. And like I said, I think he will get better. I mean, I don't think in any way, shape or form, he'll be satisfied with that. Although there were a lot of good things, so that's a good thing.
Q: So, you saw enough tonight, on first viewing, that he's clearly still your quarterback?
TH: I'm excited about a lot of things and we just need to do them better and the players around him need to do their job better also. So, if they do that, then we have a chance to be a pretty good offense. The problem is, there are too many things that make you an inconsistent offense.
Q: How helpful was it to have Thomas Jones running tonight?
TH: You know, Thomas is just a great professional and all those backs, they want to be carrying it every time. And I just can't say enough about Thomas and how he handles himself as a pro and that's what we're trying to build and develop here. You know, people like Jerheme Urban, who are active early and then de-active for weeks at a time and they keep working. And they keep trying to make the team better and playing their role and then when they get the opportunity to come in and do good things. Jerheme did a bunch of good things. Thomas is the leader of our team and anytime he runs and gets an opportunity to run and make plays, I'm excited. He made a couple of real good runs and unfortunately we just didn't turn them into points.
Q: The way he was running tonight, is that why he continues to get as many carries as he has?
TH: I like all of our backs. I really do and we just, I wish we could give it to them more, but you know, when you get into games like this and we get behind, that becomes difficult. So, again, one of the secrets for us is to be consistent on both side of the ball, on special teams and score points when you get into the red zone. And don't allow big plays. And those are all preventable things. Again, I take my hat off to New England. You know, we just have to play better, do everything a little better. And we are quite capable of that.
Q: Regarding the Patriots' defense, seems like some teams move the ball better on them, then you look up at the score and there aren't a lot of points. I mean, they obviously have some people out like you guys too, but just briefly, why do they seem to be playing better?
TH: That's the name of the game in this business. And they are no different than us. They aren't really concerned with many statistics, but the one on the scoreboard and the bottom line is score more points than the team you are playing and they do a real good job at that.
Jonathan Baldwin, Wide Receiver
(On success with catches over the middle)
"We called that play a couple of times, I guess they saw something. You just have to do what the coaches ask of you, the best you can and hope for the best. We just need to come back harder next week, that's about all we can do right now."
Reshard Langford, Safety
(The difference between the first half and second)
"I can't say that it was so much the adjustments the Patriots made, all I can say is that as a team we beat ourselves out there today. We were fired up and ready to play. We just made mistakes that you just can't make in a game if you're looking to win "
Derrick Johnson, Line Backer
(On how difficult is it to match-up with (Rob) Gronkowski)
"He's a big guy, but he's not a quick guy. He did a great job tonight, he ran his routes and a couple of times he was open. You have a small margin for error when you play the Patriots and Tom Brady did a good job when he got his opportunities."
(On what they need to do to get better)
"Cut down on the little mistakes that we make. We didn't make a lot of mistakes, but when we made them, they made us pay."
Amon Gordon, Defensive Line
(On what they did in the first half to stop the Patriots)
"We were playing team defense and trying our best to execute the plays called."
(On the multiple looks they showed the Patriots on defense)
"We tried to do some different things. They have a great quarterback who has seen a lot of things and doesn't fluster easy. Coming into the game, we thought it would be advantageous to do some things defensively to put some things on his mind."
Casey Wiegmann, Center
(On Andre Carter)
"He's a totally different type of player than the other guys. The other guys are big monsters and he is a skinny lanky guy that produces sacks. The other guys are big run stuffers. They get good pushes but they're not necessarily pass rushers like he is. "
Thomas Jones, Running Back
(On his game)
"You know honestly we didn't win the game, so you know whatever we did positively it didn't count. We didn't win the game and that is what we came here to do. So I can't feel good about a good run on a couple good plays if we didn't win, it doesn't make sense."
(On Tyler Palko)
"I thought he handled himself great. He was poised. He ran the offense well. The guys responded to him. I thought he did a pretty great job especially this being his first start. There is a lot of pressure put on a guy like that. He handled it well and I'm very proud of him. We play every day with him during practice. It's been two years, he's the same way in practice, he is very serious. He's over there early, he leaves late, he runs the offense and he knows what he is doing. He finally got the opportunity to play, and I think he did a great job."
Kendrick Lewis, Safety
(On the game)
"We had a chance. We were still fighting and we knew it was a close game going into halftime. We made adjustments and we felt like we could go out there and do what we did. They got a big play and a big score in the second half and that started their rally. They made a few plays down the stretch and were able to get points on the board."
(On the Chiefs' defensive play)
"It was just minor errors and minor mental mistakes and things that can be corrected...They are not the same mistakes that keep happening. It is supposed to be an 11-man defense and that is how we thrive and that is how we play ball. When one guy messes up it leaves a hole in the defense and that is how things have been going."
Steve Breaston, Wide Receiver
(On Tyler Palko and the turnovers)
"I thought he did a fairly good job in the huddle. I think he hung in there and we knew the situation. You can't make mistakes like that against this team. We had a few turnovers and all those turnovers are preventable. It is difficult and we need to help him out more. He did a great job executing the plays. We just have to help him out."
